Town Centre UPdate

Bart Turns on Falkirk's lights this Christmas

TV's best loved cartoon character brought his own brand of laughter to Falkirk this Christmas.

Bart Simpson switched on the festive lights in Falkirk High Street, and helped Falkirk Provost Dennis Goldie kick start the last Christmas of the millennium.

Shopping hours have been extended, with Sunday shopping from now until Christmas and late night shopping on Thursday December 16th, and Monday December 20th to Christmas Eve.

Unveiling of Sir John de Grahams Sword

The 700th anniversary of the Battle of Falkirk was celebrated when the Duke of Montrose - ancestor of Sir John de Graeme, one of the heroes who fell that day - unveiled a replica of the sword his famous relative used in the conflict.

The Duke was the VIP guest at the ceremony at Sir John's tomb in the churchyard of Falkirk Old and St Modan's Parish.

Falkirk Council, Falkirk and District Arts and Civic Council, and the Sir William Wallace Lodge of Free Colliers all contributed towards the cost of renovating Sir John's final resting place and having the replica sword made by Bonnybridge craftsman and artist Frank Agar.

After the unveiling, the Duke said he was delighted Sir John had been recognised in such a way, and spoke of his corage and loyalty seven ceturies ago when he took his place beside Sir William Wallace against the English armies of King Edward in a defiant bid to win freedom for Scotland.

Provost Dennis Goldie underlined the importance of Falkirk's great history - not only the period of Sir John de Graham, Wallace and Robert the Bruce - but the are's great Roman heritage, the Jacobite period and the industrial revolution as well.

The Reverend Duncan McClements, the minister at Grahamston United Church, conducted a short service of commemoration and Pipe Major John Wilson played a new composition specially penned for the occasion, The Battle Of Falkirk..

Take Your Partners....

Falkirk is set to go ceilidh crazy with a bold world record bid to celebrate the new millennium.

Plans are being drawn up for an attempt to host the world's biggest ever ceilidh in Falkirk High Street and it is hoped that at least 1000 couples and dozens of musicians will be lined up to take part in the massive event.

Town centre bosses want enthusiasts to help set a spectacular record for the most number of people dancing the Gay Gordons simultaneously and experts at the Guiness Book of Records have already been contacted to make sure the Falkirk event is an official record bid.

Strict criteria must be adhered to before Falkirk can take it's place in the record book. Every person taking part has to be counted individually and the dance must be performed in the traditional manner. All those taking part will have to keep dancing for a least 5 minutes and the entire event has to be filmed on video camera. Dozens of eye witnesses will also need to be employed to verify the record attempt.

Although the event is being staged to celebrate the new Millennium, it is likely to be staged next summer to take advantage of the warmer weather.

Anyone interested in getting involved in the event should contact Alastair Mitchell on 01324 611293.

It's only June......

Although the summer hasn't yet started, Town Centre Management's thoughts have already turned toward Christmas and how to maximise efforts in attracting increased numbers of Festive shoppers !

The sole topic of discussion at the forthcoming Business Forum meeting will be Christmas 1999.

At the recent Association of Town Centre Management conference, Falkirk was once again held up as 'best' practices far as planning a Christmas campaign was concerned.

The Town Centre Management team and their partners spend months implementing the town's Festive strategy.
Last year, you will remember our advertising campaigns on radio, in the press and on a fleet of buses.
The specially produced Christmas magazine 'Sparkle' was circulated to over 125,000 homes. The Sunday events strategy included the switching on of the Christmas lights by actor Dave Prowse (Darth Vader from the Star Wars movies), the illuminated Christmas Parade, a special shopping event for disabled shoppers and the annual visit by the live reindeer.

Through the Councils Town Centre Task Group much more in the way of general cleanliness, traffic management, park and ride etc. was achieved.

Once the brainstorming for this Christmas has been carried out all businesses will be made fully aware of this years Festive strategy. You will also be given an opportunity to promote your business in this year's glossy Sparkle magazine. More details will follow during the summer.

If you have any ideas as how to increase the number of Festive shoppers in Falkirk this year - don't keep them to yourself - get in touch with the Town Centre Manager on 01324 611293 or Isobel Duncan of Boots, the Chairman of the Business Forum on 01324 620535.

High Street entrance

A new, more attractive canopy will replace the existing one at the High Street entrance which in turn will be topped by a number of dynamic banners that will be hung from the frontage.

Inside, there will be a number of major changes that Chris and the team from Capital and Regional (Howgate's owners) are looking forward to bringing to the centre.

Signage package

A new suite of signage will help guide customers from the car park to the shops and throughout the centre.

Car Park

Although the car park won the A.A.'s prestigious Gold Standard award a few years ago, it will be receiving a major overhaul to make it even more customer friendly.

Mathiesons on the move
In a move to make the atrium area more vibrant, Mathiesons restaurant will be moving up to a newly floored off area outside the mall entrance to Marks and Spencer.

There will also be a new coffee kiosk run by Mathiesons, positioned outside Argos.

As well as the improvements, the centre's letting agents are encouraging retail businesses to locate in the centre in time for the Festive period. The overall upgrade package will undoubtedly be costly, but as far as the Howgate's owners are concerned, it will be most worthwhile.

It goes without saying that there will be a degree of upset during the works, but the efforts and investment are expected to pay off handsomely.

Extension to Central Retail Park gets the go ahead

Falkirk Council have given permission for the proposed extension to the retail park, which includes some retail space as well as a multiplex cinema, and more car parking spaces. Having spoken to the developers, we can advise, that they are expecting to start early next year with an expected completion time to maximise Christmas trading in the year 2000.

New editor at the Falkirk Herald

Since the last issue of the town centre newsletter, George Guthrie has been appointed to the position of editor at the Falkirk Herald. George has been with the Johnstone group for a number of years, most recently as editor of the Herald's sister paper the Cumbernauld news.

We wish George well in the editor's chair.

Having spoken to a number of the paper's journalists recently, they have all suggested that we pass a tip
on to the business community :

Over 40 of the Falkirk area's finest eateries will once again join together in an event that we hope will be bigger, better and even more fun than previously.

The Festival's theme has always been about 'fun' , with many of our restaurants, hotels, pubs, takeaways, shops and tourist attractions bringing customers from all over Central Scotland to Falkirk to their themed promotional events.

Main sponsors are once again Beancross restaurant in Polmont (on the Laurieston bypass).

In the past, foody celebrities Loyd Grossman and Brian Turner have thoroughly enjoyed their visit to Falkirk. This year the guest celebrity has been confirmed as chef, author and TV personality Nick Nairn, who will visit Beancross and Falkirk town centre on Saturday 24th July. watch out in the local and regional media as the publicity stunts for the Festival starts to gather momentum.

Falkirk 400

Not only is next year the Millennium year, but it sees the 400th anniversary of the creation of the Burgh of Falkirk.

Various groups in the town will be celebrating this anniversary in a number of ways.

This anniversary gives us a good platform from which to market the town centre next year.

If anyone from the business community has any suggestions on how the town centre should celebrate / commemorate this anniversary, please contact Town Centre Management on 01324 611293.

Safety and Security issues :

Advice from the police

As a result of the recent bombings in London, the Home Office has issued a document entitled - 'Bombs - protecting people and property'

Sergeant Tom McDougall from the Central Scotland Police Community Safety Department in Falkirk has prepared a simple checklist for readers of UPdate to follow

Please read this simple checklist for shopkeepers.

Carry out frequent checks both inside and outside for anything suspicious
Do not allow rubbish to pile up outside premises
Ensure CCTV (where fitted) is working effectively, including recording facilities
Report anything suspicious to the Police immediately using the 999 system
Do not touch, move or interfere with anything suspicious.
Have an effective evacuation plan

Retail Radio Link

The town wide Retail Radio Link System which was pioneered in Scotland in Falkirk, is continuing to be of great assistance to retail staff, our two shopping and to the police.

On a daily basis the high tech radios are used to detect or apprehend shop lifters. They are also proving most valuable in giving retail staff a degree of peace of mind.